Social Segregation in City – Geography – UGC NET – Notes

Urban segregation is the unequal distribution of different social groups in the urban space, based mainly on occupation, income and education, as well as on gender and ethnicity. The quality of life and number of healthy life years differ among these groups, too. The widening gap between rich and poor is leading to more segregation in European cities, with both groups living in homogenous, separate and impermeable areas. While research on segregation often focuses on deprived areas, a concentration of the affluent in certain areas must also be taken into consideration. For example, in some cities the rich have established ‘gated communities’ in the sky by means of luxury apartment tower blocks. Another phenomenon worth exploring is ‘invisible segregation’, referring to the informal and often temporary settlement of refugees and migrants in urban areas, not appearing in official statistics.

In popular imagination, the city is often viewed as a liberating space where rigid social structures make way for secular transformations. Particularly in the global South, the city is synonymous with social mobility and emancipation. Taking into account the transformative potentials of cities and towns, Babasaheb Ambedkar, Dalit icon and key architect of the Indian Constitution, exhorted the oppressed communities to leave the “narrow-minded” villages for city life.

The Dalits and other marginalised sections have not disappointed Ambedkar. The last decade saw an approximately 40% jump in Dalits opting for urban living. Cities have historically remained prime locations for India’s religious minorities, especially Muslims and Christians; compared to 29% of Hindus, an impressive 40% of Muslims and Christians live in urban areas. In short, the socially oppressed and spatially disadvantaged continue to flock to cities and towns to escape degrading social practices of segregation and discrimination, and also, importantly, to move up social mobility ladders.

How are Indian cities placed today in terms of their cosmopolitan character and liberating potentials?